Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

"Use the power in my and Berigel's soul bone to get out of here, you hear me!! Don't let those humans get my soul bone… it is something that they were trying to…" Berimist couldn't complete his sentence as he succumbed to his injuries.

Whether Berigel or Berimist, both of his friends died in an aggrieved and unresigned manner.

Berigard did as he was told and fulfilled the last wishes of his friends. He destroyed Berimist's core stone, took out the soul bone that was located at the frontal cortex and buried their bodies.

Afterwards, he quickly left the place and wandered around the outskirts of the city they were brought into. In the following days, he learned that the soul bone was something special as it contained a part of his friend's spirits and abilities.

Using Berigels and Berirus's abilities, he abducted an adventurer from the city to navigate his way back.

Berigard's journey back to the ghastly winding forest was laden with dangers and risk at every point. He was technically in the enemy's land who considered him dangerous and would not hesitate to eliminate him even for a second.

After he somehow returned to the ghastly winding forest while keeping his life intact, he learned that everything had changed and the tribe of diluvian high orcs only looked united from the surface.

The hateful Belgarious who was still trafficking orcs was seen as a benevolent king who cares for his tribe. He could feel the intense hatred coming from the spirits of his friends residing inside the soulbones.

After returning back Berigard swore to take revenge for his friends and for the entire orc tribe and had been building his force since then. He climbed his way up to the position of an orc general and he even built an army from the scratch.

However, it seemed that he was still too late to save his tribe. The situation with the ogre tribe had reached a boiling point. The war was inevitable and all their other options were closed.

Every word that the demon said, was on to the mark. Berigard had to make a decision within these three days. However, no matter what decision he made, the tribe of orc was sure to lose out a lot in the end.

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High above the black mountain, after exiting out of the orc general's place, Simon stopped in his tracks to observe the latter for a while.

"Was it alright for master to exit so soon? If you had pressed a little more, I'm sure that orc would have relented" Annette asked. She understood what her master was planning, he was trying to get the orc tribe before the ogre race got them.

Now that the orc tribe has pushed itself to their demise, Simon no longer needed to act to keep his dungeon safe. However, he cannot just stay completely neutral while knowing that the ogre tribe, another potential enemy of the future would become more powerful after absorbing the orc race.

Besides that, there was also the seven years agreement he had with Aldebaran and the tribe of ogre was one of the tribes that was ruled by one of the seven kings.

In such a situation, it would be foolish of him to just sit back and do nothing. The aforementioned reason was one of the objectives behind Simon moving to take action. However, the main motive driving his action was the fact that his prey was about to be stolen by someone else.

The Diluvian high orc race initiated a fight with him after they destroyed the town around his dungeon. It was only appropriate for him to retaliate and vent his frustration on them.

However, after he came here, he was made aware that, his source of frustration were on the brim of getting wiped out by another race. How could he feel good in this situation knowing that the prey he wanted to get was being stolen by someone else?

Aside from that, the was also the desire that wanted him to punish the one that tried to steal his prey had born within him.

Demon nobles are beings that stayed true to their desires and Simon had sworn to live by his desires. There is no way he would just allow the prey he had his eyes on get swept away from under him.

"Even if Berigard swears his loyalty to me at this point, it would have no meaning since the one leading the Diluvian High Orc tribe isn't him but the orc king. The other orcs would rebel against his decision and even deny it all together" Simon said.

"Then why is master so fixated on convincing that orc when he cannot speak for the masses?" Annette's question was reasonable, Simon had put so much time and effort monitoring Berigard even while knowing that the latter was just an orc general.

"He might not be their king, but I can see that he is deeply trusted and followed unconditionally by his subordinates. He is also concerned for the survival of his race and is not afraid to confront a being much more powerful than him. I believe he is much more suited to be their leader than that orc king sitting on that throne" Simon explained though it didn't look like it was enough to clear all the doubts the Valkyries had. Thus he continued his explanation—

"Well, it is also the reason why I didn't pressure Berigard to accept my offer now. The upcoming war with the ogre race would result in many deaths on the side of the orcs. This would also force the remaining orcs to think carefully and at he same time it would bring out the true colours of the orc king".

I'm pretty much certain that in that situation Berigard would be the only one standing tall against his enemies and fight for his tribe. making all the other orcs see him in a new light. At the battlefield, his words would be having more value…".

Annette, Bianca and Alice were astonished, it was only now that they understood why Simon played his cards the way he did. In this war between the two tribes, not only is Simon trying to accomplish multiple objectives, he is also trying to profit as much as he could.

He is waiting to see whether Berigard could become the true leader of the orc tribe and at the same time make them realise they have no other option other than to accept his help the harsh way.

Was what the Valkyries were thinking… though, in truth, Simon just wanted to act out according to his desires.

"Master we are deeply moved, please command us as you wish" Annette spoke for the three of them.

Simon did not know what got into the Valkyries but he did like their enthusiasm "Alice… can you go back to the dungeon and contact Irene? Tell her to send over a thousand Adromedas Mk 11 here"

Although a thousand Adromedas wouldn't be able to accomplish much in the upcoming war, they would at least be able to gather information on the ogre tribe and send the information back to Wisp.

Simon had delved into the ogre territory on one of his exploration trips though it was just once. After he saw that the level of the ogres there was just too much for the him at that time to handle, he swiftly left the place. Thus he did not have much information on the ogre tribes.

By bringing over a thousand Andromedas, he was trying to collect data from them by pitting them against the ogres. It did not matter to him even if they were destroyed since they were just drones controlled by Wisp.

Given how Cecilia helped him set up numerous mineral mountains on the workshop floor, they could easily be made once again.

Alice obediently nodded her head and immediately left off to carry her orders. Alice was a wood elf and was perfect for the job since she had the most sensory skills out of the four of them. She was like ranger who could easily manoeuvre across a forest and avoid getting detected.

After Alice disappeared from their line of sight, the rest of them also left the place.

The orcs had been given three days of time, within that time frame they had to come up with strategies and mobilise their army. There was movement all across the Diluvian High Orc's territory, one could see large groups of orcs moving, pulling large siege weapons and organising rations for the upcoming war.

Weapons were being transported and armour being forged, the preparations were in full throttle. Naturally, Simon and the two Valkyries observed everything.

The orc king never showed his face after he entered his underground chamber. However, from the movements of the orcs that were constantly coming in and going out of the underground chamber, it could be seen that he was handing out orders and rallying up the orc army in preparation for the upcoming war.

The orc generals too were busy preparing, Berirock who was a loyal subordinate of the orc king, was supervising most of the things for Belgarious.

Berigard was busy expanding his army, creating siege weapons and recovering the numbers he had lost in the scuffle on the night of the moon dance. While Berimond whose station was not far away from the Blackfield was busy surveilling the area and making barricades so as to slow down the march of the ogre army even if a little.

As for the last general Berimal, he was assumed to have died in the eastern region of the forest after being unable to get in contact with him even after a while.

The orc king did send a small group of diluvian High orcs to search for him. However, when Belgarious saw that even they didn't return, he gave up on him.